"Can you hear me clearly?" questioned a person dressed in white clothes striped with black, holding a sunflower in his hand.
A voice resonated through the flower:
— Yes, I hear you perfectly. What is the matter? Have you found him?
— Yes, he is bound around a tree in front of a house in the village. When I approached a little, I found two strangers inside that house. I did not want to make a move until we consult the Commander.
— Are you certain they are strangers?
— Yes, I confirm it.
— Very well, I will speak with the Leader, and we shall see what he decides.
—
Inside the house, the rest were still conversing around the dining table laden with remnants, some of which Helmo was picking up and tossing to a small, ash-gray mouse with thick fur.
— By the way, is it just the two of you living in this house? Yuray asked.
Helmo replied as he threw a piece toward the mouse:
— Yes, just the two of us.
— And your mother? Yuray asked once more.
Helmo's words carried a shadow of grief:
— My mother passed away when I was a child; I have never seen her before.
The man flinched, and his expression crumbled upon hearing his son's words. However, Yousafer and Yuray did not miss it; they observed it keenly.
Yousafer asked, focusing his gaze on the man's face:
— How did she die? And when?
The man's face was cast toward the dining table, sorrowful as if he were unearthing a distant memory. He did not see that Yousafer and Yuray were monitoring his facial expressions.
Helmo placed his hand around his chin, looking upward:
— I think she fell ill and then died; that is what my father told me, right?
Helmo's eyes turned toward his father.
The man trembled and raised his head with an actor's forced smile:
— Yes, that is all there is to it.
— Uncle, is there something wrong? Yousafer asked with a piercing seriousness.
Helmo looked at Yousafer when he heard his strange tone, then directed his gaze back to his father.
The man questioned in confusion:
— What is it? There is nothing.
Yousafer smiled and said nothing; he knew the man was shielding a secret.
Yousafer had endured much and experienced far more than even the man sitting before him. Although he had been on the island since his youth, his infinite experiences within his nightmares made him feel as though he had lived the lives of many people.
He wanted to press further, but he found it awkward. He had only just met the man, so how could he interrogate him when he did not wish to speak? But what he said was merely to alert Helmo.
However, Helmo was clever; he glimpsed something within Yousafer's words and his father's facial expressions. He stared at his father for a long time, noticing that the man's hand seemed to be shaking.
— Father, what is it? Are you hiding something from your son regarding my mother?
A tremor ascended further into the man's hands, then he looked toward the smiling Yousafer; he understood the situation.
The man gritted his teeth and adjusted his posture while staring into his son's eyes. He was hesitant, remembering the past he had long sought to outrun.
— Where do I begin? This is a very long story. I did not tell you because I feared you would hate me...
The man leaned forward again, as if ashamed to look at his son's face.
— In truth, we are not from this village, nor are we from this continent at all. We came to this place thirteen years ago. You were four years old then, which is why you do not remember.
Helmo was astonished as he looked at his father's face, while Yousafer and Yuray maintained natural expressions, listening to the man's tale.
What made the man speak of this matter was not just that Yousafer suspected something or that his son questioned him, but because he was going to tell him sooner or later. Yousafer's words were merely the spark that illuminated the path.
— As for your mother, she did not die as I told you, but she was imprisoned by her family.
Helmo's heart began to hammer violently after hearing his father's words.
— Your mother's family are not ordinary people; they are like this young man, "Possessed," he said, pointing toward Yousafer.
Helmo was utterly shocked as he listened. The expressions of both Yuray and Yousafer shifted after hearing the man tell his story.
— Originally, I was a merchant working with my father in one of the kingdoms on another continent. We owned many shops where we sold various things, including clothes. Your mother met me for the first time inside one of our shops; she was captivated by the clothes we sold.
After that, she would come every three days to take new clothes. That is how I came to know her, and our relationship flourished, though she kept it hidden from her family.
Eventually, I married her without her family's knowledge. The only witness was her sister. I did not want it that way, but she insisted so she could surprise them with our marriage so they wouldn't reject me. I loved her deeply, and she loved me too. Her elder sister, who is your aunt, helped us.
Your mother knew her people well, and she knew her father; she did not want to inform them of our marriage. She would come every day under some pretext or another.
After our undisclosed marriage, days passed, and when she saw her belly swelling slightly, she felt anxious. But she quickly devised a plan, claiming she was going on a holiday to her sister's house in another kingdom, but instead, she came to me after cooperating with her sister.
She stayed for nearly three months with me without leaving the house until we were blessed with a child, and that child was you. The house we lived in was my own, as I did not reside with my family.
At that time she said: "Now is the right time to tell my family." But her sister told her to wait until she arrived. We waited for a whole week. Her sister arrived with a baby girl in her arms, who was only a few months older than you.
The man's tension increased as he spoke without pause in a single breath, and the three of them were listening to him. The lighting was dim, and nothing was heard except the man's voice, which sounded as if he were telling a fairy tale, and the rhythmic thumping of Helmo's heart.
— The three of us reached your mother's house, which was extraordinarily large. I had never seen it before because it was outside the capital. Everyone was surprised, and her father's rage reached the heavens. I was terrified, but she reassured me while holding you with one hand and clutching me with the other. I still remember her words that day: "Do not worry, I am with you."
Throughout all these years, those words still ring in my head.
Her elder sister stepped forward to defend us; she had always stood by us. We had done nothing wrong; we loved each other and married.
Your mother's family did not accept my marriage to her because I was a commoner. They concealed the matter and moved us to a house that was outside the capital and somewhat far from her family.
We lived for four years cut off from the outside world. I did not work during those four years; everything we needed was brought to us. They were happy days we lived together.
Sometimes your aunt would come with her young daughter. You would be so joyful and only wanted to play with that girl, but she was always frowning. Even her mother said she had never smiled once; she was somewhat strange.
Those years passed until our lives changed one day. Masked individuals arrived and stormed the house, capturing both you and me. As for your mother, she was taken by your grandfather, who was watching us from a distance.
I did not know where they were taking us, but I heard two of them talking about the place where they would kill us. I was petrified and feared greatly for you. I found nothing I could do for four days, but one day your mother sent someone who liberated us. With that man was a message telling me to take you and flee far away. All that mattered to her was saving you and me. We escaped, but we were pursued.
As for the reason for our presence on this continent, it was something I had not planned for. While we were being chased, I boarded a merchant ship that was preparing to sail. I do not know how, but as soon as we boarded, we heard the sounds of explosions.
After that, the ship set sail quickly. Five days passed while we were hidden inside. What pained me most at that time was the sound of your stomach moaning with hunger. The ship reached its destination, and I felt it stop. We exited secretly and found ourselves in the capital of the "Ousan" Kingdom, which is "Hajar."
The Ousan Kingdom is the largest kingdom on this continent, and its capital, Hajar, is massive. I did not want to stay there; I did not like the conditions. I was very afraid, so I left it.
(Both Yousafer and Yuray remembered the grandfather's words when he told them to go to the Ousan Kingdom and search for Lardor).
— We passed through two kingdoms whose names I have forgotten via train, and I found myself in the Randor Kingdom. I also did not want to stay in the capital, so I left it until I found myself in this forest and in this village. I liked the village because it is hidden in the forest, so we settled here, and its leader welcomed us with an open heart. Years passed without problems, until that day came when those strangers arrived.
Originally, we were going to live here for a few years, and when you grew up, we would return to search for your mother and reunite. But you see what has become of us...
The man bowed his head, and tears poured from his eyes in droplets onto the dining table:
— I am sorry... sorry for not telling you sooner. Sorry for hiding it. Sorry for not giving you that happy life you dream of... I am sorry, I am truly sorry.
Helmo stood up without realizing and advanced toward his father. He leaned down and kissed his head, tears glistening on his cheeks, then embraced him.
— Do not worry, you have done everything for me, and you have done everything in your power.
—
In a vast and somewhat dark room, a middle-aged man sat on a black leather chair, wearing a wrinkled dark green jacket fastened with white buttons and matching green trousers. He had brushed his brown hair back, revealing his thick eyebrows and black glasses that reflected the large screens before him, which provided the room with some dim lighting.
He was listening to a man behind him who was kneeling on the floor, dressed in white clothes striped with black. The man spun around with the chair and said in a raspy voice:
— Go and bring them both here immediately, and take five other people with you. Seven of you will be able to handle them, will you not?
— Yes, sir, the other replied.
Then the man waved his hand as if shooing away a fly. At that moment, the man stood, bowed, and exited quickly. After his departure, the Commander st
ood up, looking at the screens, and smiled a wicked smile:
— It has been a long time since someone entered this forest.
End of Chapter